Adrian Heath (left) and Manny Lagos (right) | via mnufc.com
The Offseason So Far: They cleared out a bunch of their depth players and Manny Lagos said...
With all three Designated Player (DP) spots unfilled and a new injection of Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) into the league, it's unclear when and how Minnesota will exercise their spending options. Previously, club officials have expressed confidence that at least one DP will be announced in 2018, but Lagos would not be pressed into assurances on when that might happen.
“We’re not going to put a timeline on that,” he said Friday at a team function.
Ooof. Ok, read the full story.
Minnesota showed they can be competitive without spending big last season, and they've got some good talent in important spots. They'll have another high draft pick, and Adrian Heath usually does good work with those. There are things to be excited about, and as Houston, Sporting and Columbus proved last year, you can win a lot without spending a lot.
But man, do those margins get thin.
JAN. 2 UPDATE: Other than shipping Johan Venegas to Saprissa... nothing.
They've got to find the coming weeks to figure out how to add quality and depth in defense across literally the entire backline. They could also stand to get a true playmaker into the fold, but beggars can't be choosers.
JAN. 24 UPDATE: Will they use a DP slot? And if so, will it be on Sam Bradford, Case Keenum or Teddy Bridgewater?
Look, the Loons are playing a different sort of game than almost everyone else in MLS. They do not have a full academy. They do not spend big on imports. They do try to acquire every single winger who's ever set foot on North American soil. You've got to look three moves ahead and understand that, someday, the 3-3-4 will be back in vogue and there will need to be two wingers and two wingbacks on each side of the field. That's just life.
Honestly though, I'm fine with this. MNUFC crushed the draft in getting CB Wyatt Omsberg and forward Mason Toye, who can play wing but really is much more of a No. 9 in training, and then picking up Cameroonian international Frantz Pangop for free... that's a move any MLS team should at least consider making. Pangop is probably best as an inverted winger, but hey, if you're going to win on a budget in MLS you've got to collect free talent when it presents itself.
And when you do finally spend? "Proven" is a good idea:
Ok yeah Yamil Asad would be a great signing. Did I mention that he's also a winger? I'd still make this move if I was the MNUFC braintrust, but then I'd make about six others as well.
